Oh Death, Come Close Mine Eyes
by monicawoe
Summary: written for the prompt: At the cemetery in Lawrence, Sam can't break through and stop Lucifer. Sam/Lucifer beats Dean mercilessly, and leaves him to die on the ground. As Dean dies, Michael comes to Dean and offers him one last chance to bring him back to life if he says 'yes' to him and battles his brother.


Michael screamed with Adam's voice as his vessel was completely consumed by holy fire. The archangel's grace exploded outwards as he abandoned Adam.

Castiel turned to Dean. "He'll be back, and upset, but you've got your five minutes."

Lucifer narrowed his eyes. His voice, _Sam's voice_, dropped dangerously low. "Castiel. Did you just molotov my brother with holy fire?"

"Uh…no." Castiel stammered, backing up a step.

"No one dicks with Michael, but me." Lucifer said, and snapped his fingers. Castiel exploded in a shower of flesh and blood, covering Bobby in gore.

Moving closer to Lucifer, Dean tried to keep his voice steady and asked, "Sammy, can you hear me?"

"You know…" Lucifer took a few steps closer to Dean. "I tried to be nice. For Sammy's sake. But you…" He grabbed Dean by the jacket. "…are such a pain in my ass." He threw Dean forward into the Impala's windshield.

Dean felt the glass crack behind him, and winced at the pain shooting through his back.

Bobby drew his gun and shot Lucifer — shot _Sam_.

Lucifer didn't flinch, but he looked down annoyed at the bullet hole and Sam's blood. Then he met Bobby's eyes, lifted his hand, and turned it — breaking Bobby's neck with a thought.

"No!" Dean screamed, as Bobby fell to the ground, dead.

"Yes," Lucifer said, yanking Dean off of the Impala's hood and into his fist. Blood poured out of Dean's mouth.

"Sammy, are you in there?" Dean asked, tasting the copper on his tongue.

"Oh he's in here all right," Lucifer said, smirking. He punched Dean again. "And he's gonna feel the snap of your bones." He slammed his fist into Dean's face again, knocking him to the ground. "Every single one." He reached down and pulled Dean back up by his jacket. "We're gonna take our time."

Dean felt his bones shatter under the onslaught of Lucifer's attack as he brought Sam's large fist crashing into his face again and again and again. When Lucifer paused, briefly, Dean forced his broken jaw to move. "Sam, it's okay. It's okay. I'm here. I'm here. I'm not gonna leave you."

Lucifer punched him again, enraged, and then paused briefly to pull his arm far back — preparing to deliver the final blow.

"Im not gonna leave you," Dean promised. It didn't matter what the Devil did to him, Dean would stay by Sam's side.

"You say that like you have a choice," Lucifer said and brought his fist crashing down one final time.

Dean's mind exploded with light and then fell absolutely still. The last sound he heard was the beating of wings.

* * *

Powerless, Sam watched as Lucifer beat his brother into a bloody pulp. He fought, he tried to take back control of his body in any way he knew how, but he couldn't. He wasn't strong enough. He was human, and his soul was a drop of water, lost in the ocean of Lucifer's grace. There wasn't a damn thing he could do but watch as Dean's bones shattered under his own hands.

When Lucifer slammed his fist down for the last time, Sam saw the light go out in Dean's eyes. He watched him _die_. At that moment, Sam broke. He'd always known that Dean was what kept him human, and with him gone his whole soul bled red with rage and sorrow.

Sam's reaction to Dean's death was so violent that Lucifer lost hold. Fixated on Dean's still body, it took Sam nearly two minutes to realize that he had to act fast. This was his one and only chance. He might not be able to bring Dean back, but he could at least stop Lucifer from doing any more harm. He fumbled in his pocket for the Horsemen's rings and started to say the incantation.

"Beh voh tah moh en…" The ground beneath Sam's feet started to tremble. The rings in his hand started to glow faintly, and Sam struggled to continue the chant as he felt Lucifer trying to take back control.

* * *

"Dean," said a voice both unfamiliar and unmistakable. Michael spoke, and for a moment, Dean wondered how he could still hear. He couldn't feel any pain, he couldn't feel a thing, so he had to be dead. He had to be.

"Dean," the archangel said again. "Say _yes_, and you can still stop him. Say yes, and you can save the whole world. Adam is gone, you're the only one left. End this now, before it's too late."

He thought of Sam being forced to watch everything Lucifer did, everything Lucifer was making _him_do…without being able to do a single thing to stop it.

The decision wasn't that hard to make, after all. _Yes,_ Dean thought. _I'm not gonna leave you Sam. If you can't stop him, I will._

Michael's grace flooded through Dean, filling him with infinite light and power. Distantly, he was aware of his body reawakening — he could feel his skin and bones shifting as they reknit. His body stood, without any effort or conscious thought on his part. He watched, a passenger in his own body, as Michael stepped towards Lucifer.

The Devil stood awkwardly frozen, almost paralyzed, staring at something in his open hand.

Faster than thought, Michael lunged forward, his angelic blade manifesting in Dean's hand a second before he drove it deep into Sam's back.

Lucifer's grace flared out through Sam's eyes and mouth and he screamed as he crumpled to his knees. The Horsemen's rings slipped out of Sam's hand and fell into the damp grass by his feet.

Dean watched Michael pull his sword back out. Sam hit the ground, and he looked up at Dean with his own hazel eyes. With one final breath, his mouth shifted into a grateful smile.

Michael left Dean there, kneeling on the ground next to his dead brother.

With a shaking hand, Dean closed Sam's eyes. Then he turned Michael's sword towards his own heart, and fell forward to join Sam.


End file.
